Pergola for the Yard #4: When Life Gives You Lemons, Stain Them

So here I was thinking “OK I’m in the home stretch. I’m finished sanding the posts and they’re ready for my oil/stain mix.” Ha!

I started to apply the oil mix and couldn’t believe that the DF of the posts were taking on the oil mix in a very different way than the rafters and rafter supports. Heck they now looked like PTL :( So before they completely dry, I’m now applying a stain by hand that is getting me where I want to be. I’ll then just used pure BLO as a few finish coats.

Man just when you think you’re heading home, you get a screwball thrown at you and have to make adjustments – oh and do more work :O

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I guess I’ll have to hit up all of the components with my stain mix – Red Mahogany and English Chestnut – to get a uniform appearance.

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Just a small update here. The finish on the posts, the beam supports and some of the rafters is complete. I stained everything to match and then applied three coats of a mix of Thompson’s Timber Oil and Helmsman Spar Urethane, thinned by a third. I like how everything turned out.

This morning I picked up ten 80lb bags of ready-mix and will trench pour footings for the posts. Glad I had my Wheaties this morning. Have to carry those ten 80lb bags from my truck, thru the house and to the yard :) Just waiting for the street sweeper to pass so I can pull my truck up to the front door.

LOL well one side is already concrete and the rest is hardpack clay after 6 inches or so. I know I have a post hole digger, but it’s in one of my storage units and I wasn’t about to go looking for it. So I used a small spade and a large pinch bar to loosen the soil.

LOL yeah I know how guys get after lunch. It would be a good lunch though….......... after the job was done :)

Mixing in a 5gal bucket really sucks, but it’s all I had. Done for today.

These should be ready for drilling by Saturday so I can mount the post bases with standoffs. I think I’ll have this thing up by Sunday afternoon. I’ll still have some work to do after that. Will have to make the base that goes around the posts, but the major work will be done.

More progress today. I picked up the 2×10 16’ beams this morning. I’ll be finishing these in the yard as it was going to be too much trouble humping them to the shop and back again. Everything else is ready to go – rafters are stained and finished as well as the posts and supports. I’ll have to stain and finish the beams and purlins here in the yard.

Willie is making sure I don’t screw up :)

Weather is supposed to stay dry thru the weekend …........ so the weatherman says LOL